The Lectionary and Scripture Interpretation for the Easter Season
In today’s readings we hear Peter’s powerful preaching and witness John’s vision of all heaven worshipping Christ. John’s gospel gives us two familiar stories: the great catch of fish and Jesus asking Peter repeatedly, “Do you love me?”
At the Easter Vigil, catechumens are baptized. The Sundays of Easter then provide instruction in the Christian life. Something to ask of each reading, then, is what does it tell us about how to live the Christian life with eyes of newness and wonder?
Acts 5:27-32, 40b-41
Last week’s reading (vv12-16 ) summarized the growth of the community and Peter’s role in doing signs and wonders. Because the community was growing so fast, in v17 we see the religious leaders filled with jealousy, just as they had been jealous of the people’s love of Jesus. They jail some of the apostles but there is a miraculous escape. The disciples return to openly preaching the gospel and are brought before the religious authorities once more in v 26. This time the leaders are afraid of the people because the apostles are so popular.
In vv17-26, the apostles are arrested and jailed, but they are quickly freed by “an angel of the Lord.” This was ironic because it was the Sadducees, filled with jealousy, who had them jailed. This was an ultra-conservative sect of Judaism that did not believe in resurrection or angels.
Once released, they go right back to preaching, a pattern that will repeat a number of times. This time they are brought in by the Sanhedrin which was the top ruling religious authority. This was the same group that had condemned Jesus to death. In v28, the Sanhedrin accuses the apostles of trying to make the people blame them for Jesus’ death. Peter responds to the accusation, not by defending himself, but by accusing the leaders of doing exactly what they were trying to escape blame for.
Vv33-40 are not in the lectionary but show us an infuriated group of men who are angry and jealous enough (again) to want to murder. Deuteronomy 13:6-10 gave instructions for false prophets or anyone who tried to lead others to worship gods other than YHWH. The punishment was death. This part of the Torah is, perhaps, their justification.
In v34 a Pharisee named Gamaliel steps up to caution the group. In Acts 22:3, Paul said that he was a student of this man. We don’t know much about Theudus or Judas the Galilean. Which is apt because Gamaliel’s point is that these men inspired a following which flared up for a time but quickly fizzled out. He says basically that you can judge a movement by its fruits. Just wait and see what happens and you’ll know whether or not it’s of God. Gamaliel argues that the Sanhedrin should just let the apostles go and then watch them – watch for the fruits. He says you’ll pretty quickly know if it’s not of God because the movement will fold in on itself. And if it is of God, no one’s going to be able to stop it anyway!
I am struck by the deep and inspired wisdom in this passage. What would happen if the church used this tool today? What if we reserved judgment while we watched for the fruits of something? There is a time to act, of course. We can’t sit back and watch movements run roughshod over people. But how often do we prayerfully watch and wait, looking for the fruits of something before we either condemn or applaud it?
V39 says the Sanhedrin were persuaded by this logic, but they flogged the apostles anyway. And they ordered them yet again to cease preaching. In v41, even though they had been beaten and ordered to stop preaching, they were still able to find points of praise. This incident allowed them to truly walk in the steps of Jesus. They had been given the honor of being dishonored on account of the Name.
How I wish the lectionary had included v42! They were ordered to stop and they were beaten for what they said. But they preached on. In their homes privately but also publicly in the temple.
Ask God to show you something in the world today that you want to judge as evil or dangerous or completely lacking any good. What would it look like to patiently watch and wait to see the fruits?
Revelation 5:11-14
At the throne of God, things tend to look quite different than they do from here. Who gets the power and the glory? The one who left it all (see Philippians 2). Chp 4 sets the stage for today’s scene; we are privy to a heavenly council. This council is not debating or judging. This council is worshiping, in quite a spectacular way.
Above all, the book of Revelation was meant to be performed and experienced by the audience. This book almost demands imaginative prayer, sometimes very imaginative! Most of the images in this book outstrip descriptive logic. The author is going for a paradoxical symbolism. The challenge to us moderns is to visualize, but not get caught up in the visuals. The descriptions invite us into something far deeper.
For instance, in 5:6, there is a description of The Lamb “that seemed to have been slain. He had seven horns and seven eyes.” We probably begin by trying to imagine a being who has been slain and has all these horns and eyes. But we remember that seven is a number of fullness. The author is trying to convey something about Christ being the fullness of everything.
This book is a huge challenge to our modern psyche which wants to pin everything down literally. It invites us, much like poetry, to reimagine the world around us in metaphorical terms.
The scene begins in v11 with “countless” beings surrounding the throne. The Gk literally says “the number of them were myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands.” The Greek language used the word myriad to describe something around 10,000. It was thought to be an impossibly huge number, as ancient cultures couldn’t readily envision much more than that. The phrase here conveys the largest possible known quantity times itself plus thousands and thousands thrown in for good measure. Our idea of “countless” conveys that pretty well.
Count the list of attributes in v12 and you will see that there are seven things, seven honors. Like the seven horns and seven eyes, we are meant to understand that Jesus is the fullness of everything.
In v13 we get a picture of the Greek worldview: there were “heavens” which was the domain of the Gods. This was generally up but not always. Then there was the earth, the domain of humans. And then under the earth, which included the sea, which was the domain of creatures and animals. We get a picture of the entire worldview – heaven, earth, under the earth, and this equates to “everything.” The translation adds “in the universe” to clarify for us that it’s not just this world but everything that can be imagined.
The ancient audience would have experienced this work in the context of liturgy and the book itself is steeped in rich liturgical images. Take some time to recall liturgies that have been meaningful to you. How did you experience God in those liturgies? What images helped you do that?
John 21:1-19
John 20 recounts the empty tomb followed by a number of resurrection appearances. That chapter ends with what feels very much like a conclusion:
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.
These verses make the opening of chapter 21 a bit confusing. Didn’t we already conclude things?! This chapter should be considered an epilogue, written by a different author later in the gospel’s development. As the faith was lived, new issues and new realities developed. This chapter is there to begin addressing some of those. The chapter appears in all manuscripts and its canonicity (inclusion in the Bible) has never been challenged.
The setting in v1 is the Sea of Tiberias, which is another name for the Sea of Galilee. Back in John 6, this was the same setting for the multiplication of the loaves and Jesus walking on water.
V2 is an interesting list. It’s not all of the Twelve and not everyone there is named. Instead, we get a headcount of seven – which we remember from the Revelation reading is a number in scripture indicating fullness. It’s a small group but it symbolizes the whole in a different way. It is more inclusive in a way that the group of just the Twelve is not.
At the end of chp 20, Jesus sent them out as apostles to share the good news. What’s the first thing they do? They go back to their old lives, to their old routines and the familiarity of what they know. Before we judge Peter too harshly, spend some time considering what you would do if your life were upended; if everything you believed to be true was suddenly shattered and a new reality had not yet taken shape. How quick would you be to seek solace in the familiar? I think it’s important to keep in mind that this is exactly where Jesus met them that morning.
In v4 we see Jesus standing on the shore but, like many resurrection appearances, they do not recognize him right away. After asking if they have caught anything (do you have anything to eat?), he instructs them to throw the net over the right side of the boat. One assumes here that the nets were on the left side at this point. They do it, which results in a great catch of fish.
It is at this point when the disciple whom Jesus loved recognizes the man on the shore as Christ. I have always loved this detail. Peter might be the one in charge, but he is not always the one paying attention. It is the disciple whom Jesus loved, the one who gazes at Jesus, who recognizes him first. And it is this disciple who interprets the experience for the one in charge.
In v9, everyone converges on the shore to find a “charcoal fire.” In John 18:18, Peter enters the courtyard of the high priest, where Jesus has been taken for his trial. There he stands around a charcoal fire. The author’s use of this imagery seems to invite us to connect these two events somehow.
Jesus asks for some fish and so Peter drags the net ashore, full of exactly 153 fish. What does 153 symbolize? God only knows! Perhaps in the author’s community, this number had such great significance that no one thought to document it. Maybe we’ll all have a good laugh in heaven when the author explains it to us and we can rib him for not writing it down.
St. Augustine noticed that if you add the consecutive numbers from 1 to 17, the sum is 153. This seems to invite more questions than it answers! St. Jerome observed that Greek zoologists had cataloged 153 fish species and so decided this must represent a radical inclusivity of everyone.
Notice that the net can hold it all – the kingdom might can hold all of us with varying viewpoints. So this number might invite John’s community to also envision the success of the Gentile mission and make room for everyone.
Jesus then invites them to eat and by this time everyone in the group has recognized who he is.
I think we often imagine a scene shift in v15. I’ve always tended to view what follows as a private conversation, away from the others. But in studying this passage this time around, it hit me that the text does not necessarily say or even imply that. In fact, as I read it now, it seems that the group is still there, gathered around the charcoal fire.
Jesus’ question is vague, perhaps deliberately so:
- Do you love me more than these other disciples do?
- Do you love me more than you love these other disciples?
- Do you love me more than you love these things – the boats and fish and familiarity of the known?
Jesus asks the question with the Greek word agape – the love that God has, the love that goes deeper than any feelings. A love that sacrificially gives everything. Peter replies with the Greek word philo – the love of friendship, of deep companionship. Jesus invites Peter to feed my lambs – a word used to indicate the nourishment of animals, particularly sheep.
In v16, Jesus again asks about agape love, and once more Peter responds with philo love. This time Jesus invites Peter to shepherd the lambs, a word often used of leading the flock, but also used to describe a role of authority over people.
The third time, Jesus uses the Greek philo in his question and Peter likewise replies with philo. Perhaps this change of course can help explain Peter’s distress – not that Jesus asked him the third time, but that Jesus seems to lower the stakes and perhaps questions whether Peter can have even the friendship level of love.
V18, in context, is a proverb that many people used to describe old age. According to ancient tradition, Peter was crucified and so this saying came to be associated with crucifixion. This may explain v19.
One question that always comes up with this interchange is – how significant is the use of different Greek words for love? Some scholars say there is no deeper meaning inherent in it. Other scholars see the underlying Greek words as significant to understanding the passage. I would tend to side with the latter.
A companion question is – since Greek was not Jesus’ language, what words did he use in Aramaic, and did those words convey the same idea? I would offer that it is entirely possible that this story is an original construction of the author of the gospel of John. Like many stories, it probably had its origins in something that factually happened. But the author uses it for his own purposes. As such, the original language for the story was likely Greek, which is why I am convinced that the use of the different Greek words holds meaning.
My understanding of this passage is that Jesus gives Peter basically the same charge regardless of his “level” of love. Jesus invites Peter to the highest order of agape love. Peter recognizes that he is not there yet. And so Jesus invites Peter to be secure in the degree of philo love that he does have. I think Jesus wants Peter to understand that God works with us however we are, however much we love God. God uses whatever level of love and commitment that we come with. AND God is always inviting us deeper.
How are we to understand this interaction? Like many scripture stories, there are varied interpretations, all true and all somehow necessary in order to fully understand our faith. The Catholic Church emphasizes this story as Peter’s “rehabilitation” (after his three-fold denial) and highlighting of his role in leading the institutional church.
Other possible interpretations include:
- This was a symbolic undoing of Peter’s three-fold denial. The charcoal fire invites us to connect these stories and we can well imagine Peter’s guilt and shame. Jesus’ love triumphs over that guilt and shame.
- The gospels make it clear that Peter was the institutional leader of the band. In this last interaction, Jesus reminds Peter what he has taught over and over and over: it is love, not doctrine, that feeds the sheep.
You might consider praying with this latter passage multiple times in different ways:
- Begin by imagining that Jesus is asking you this question: “Do you love me more than these?” What might Jesus be referring to when he says “more than these”? How do you respond? What feelings arise each time he asks? What charge does he give to you?
- Pray with it again, but this time imagine yourself as one in the circle around Jesus and Peter. Listen to the exchange. What comes up for you?
Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
© 2023 Kelly Sollinger